Billy Corgan: ‘Smashing Pumpkins Dies When I Die, and Maybe Not Even Then’

What does the future hold for Smashing Pumpkins? Only Billy Corgan truly knows, but the musician does seem to be in better spirits concerning the group's future. He was quoted in past interviews as stating that the band's future was "kind of murky" and shared that after the band's most recent and upcoming albums were complete that, "I’m either going to bail on this ship for good, like ‘I’m done,’ or I’m going to have a new ship to sail on.” However, he now tells Rolling Stone that Smashing Pumpkins are not in danger of going away.

He explains that he never stated that the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins disc would be the last and that his comments have repeatedly been taken out of context. Corgan states, "All I was saying was that if these albums that I am doing -- I'm now on the second of the two -- don't go where I need them to go, then I would take the Smashing Pumpkins in a different direction, i.e., I would maybe make four-hour albums, or I would make one song at a time again."

He adds, "It doesn't fly in the social-media era, because all it does is become clickbait. No one will actually read what you said. No one will actually read the subtext of your quote. I'm waking up and realizing that I don't want to be clickbait anymore."

As far as the band's future, Corgan states, "I think the new album we're making is very exciting. It's very futuristic. I've basically said that Smashing Pumpkins dies when I die, and maybe not even then. Maybe my niece will take over the franchise when I'm dead. KISS is already talking about continuing past Gene and Paul, so why not the Smashing Pumpkins beyond William Patrick Corgan?"

Corgan also cleared up one more widely circulated story about his preference to be called William. He explains, "All I have been doing in my private life is that I've been asking people to call me William because at some point Billy just feels weird. It's sort of a young man's name. I feel more like a William than a Bill or a Billy. I see Billy as a professional name and William as my real name … I said to people jokingly, 'By the way, you should call me William.' It's a joke! Some people call me William, some people call me Billy, and I respond to both. But again, clickbait somehow turns it into me being dramatic because I asked people to call me by my name (laughs)."

Look for Billy (or William if you prefer) Corgan and Smashing Pumpkins hitting the road this summer on 'The End Times' tour with Marilyn Manson. Dates can be found here. And stay tuned for news on the next Smashing Pumpkins album, Day for Night, which is tentatively slated for a late 2015 / early 2016 release.